Judge In Avery Case To Consider Motion For New Trial

MANITOWOC, Wis. -- A Manitowoc County judge will be asked on Tuesday to order a new trial for Steven Avery.

In a routine request, Avery's attorneys have asked Circuit Judge Patrick Willis to reverse himself on several rulings made before and during the trial.

Avery was convicted in March of first-degree intentional homicide in the 2005 death of Teresa Halbach.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 1. The 44-year-old Mishicot man faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison plus 10 years, but the judge can choose to set a parole-eligibility date.

The defense team of Dean Strang, of Madison, and Jerome Buting, of Brookfield, said that they think it's inconsistent and irreconcilable that the jury could convict Avery on the murder charge and acquit him on a charge of mutilating a corpse.

Special prosecutor Ken Kratz said that his team hasn't decided whether to file a written response before the hearing or present only oral arguments.